Mesmeric Influence

That crimes have been accomplished by means of the peculiar influence possessed by certain minds over weaker minds, will scarcely be questioned by experienced legal practitioners. That persons have made statements, and even written solemn retractions of previous statements, under the influence of this subtle power, is as clearly demonstrable as any other fact in mental philosophy. A reporter connected with one of the city papers is doing a little quiet investigating in a case now attracting considerable attention from the public, and has found the investigation so interesting that he is devoting considerable time to it. In a conversation with the writer yesterday, he said that he was a disbeliever in phenomena of the kind referred to, on general principles, but based his conclusion upon two well-established cases, coming within his own observation, where men admitted that they had been influenced in the witness-box by a power from without, which they could not resist; and upon another case, where a man had gone to prison under a wrongful accusation, and refrained from divulging facts in his possession until after conviction, when it was too late, but ascribed his course to influences beyond his control. The line of investigation upon which this reporter is working is certainly an interesting one; and the facts already found, and which he naturally refuses to divulge publicly, are of themselves sufficiently startling to create a decided sensation.